Being Sloane Jacobs, by Lauren Morrill
Publication: January 7, 2014, by Delacorte Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Romance Pages: 352 Format: Hardcover Source: Gifted Rating: 
Meet Sloane Emily Jacobs: a seriously stressed-out figure-skater from Washington, D.C., who choked during junior nationals and isn’t sure she’s ready for a comeback. What she does know is that she’d give anything to escape the mass of misery that is her life.
Now meet Sloane Devon Jacobs, a spunky ice hockey player from Philly who’s been suspended from her team for too many aggressive hip checks. Her punishment? Hockey camp, now, when she’s playing the worst she’s ever played. If she messes up? Her life will be over.
When the two Sloanes meet by chance in Montreal and decide to trade places for the summer, each girl thinks she’s the lucky one: no strangers to judge or laugh at Sloane Emily, no scouts expecting Sloane Devon to be a hero. But it didn’t occur to Sloane E. that while avoiding sequins and axels she might meet a hockey hottie—and Sloane D. never expected to run into a familiar (and very good-looking) face from home. It’s not long before the Sloanes discover that convincing people you’re someone else might be more difficult than being yourself.
Michelle’s Thoughts:
I feel pretty bad for my books. I treat them as real people, if you can believe it—not to sound weird or anything. I’m friendly, no stalker. But if I leave a book itching for me to read it for ages, I feel bad that I’m not picking it up instead of all of the other new books that are being released and those that I’m requesting and borrowing from the library. Being Sloane Jacobs by the awesome Lauren Morrill was one of those books that I’ve been waiting to read forever. It was pretty fabulous, if you ask me.
Have you ever watched the classic film The Parent Trap? This book is so similar to it. Minus the actual secret twin/sisterhood thing as well as parents getting back together, Morrill basically adds all of the quirkiness and entertainment that you ever have wanted in a contemporary-romance novel, with two different perspectives that’ll leave you giggling for ages, even after the whole story is over.
“Either you love it or you don’t. Either you can do it or you can’t. And, kid? I been watching you for years, and I know you can do it. The question you gotta figure out is, do you love it?” (4)
This features two distinct girls with the same name: Sloane Jacobs. One is a figure skater while the other plays hockey. When summer vacation comes, they decide that they’d like to go to camps where they’re able to do the talents and hobbies that they enjoy the most. When they meet in a hotel in Montreal and discover that they look pretty similar and both are able to skate, they decide to switch places. They fall in love with different people, learn new things and decide how they’ll actually be themselves when the time comes.
I adored the concept which Morrill handed to us. There’s no doubt about that. I can’t get the story and its events out of my head, including the cute picture-perfect romance and all of the things that made each character and perspective themselves. The writing is brilliant, though quick, fast-paced and interesting, leaving me unable to stop reading. As I’ve read the author’s other books in the past, I kind of already knew what to expect, but it all turned out to be more satisfying than what I already predicted beforehand.
“I, Sloane Emily Jacobs, am sitting in my pajamas on the handlebars of a boy’s bike, being whisked around a foreign city at midnight. I can’t even imagine what my mom would say. The thought makes me grin.” (139)
When I think about it, I don’t really have a favourite “Sloane Jacobs.” The girls were two different, distinct personalities who loved different things, behaved differently and had a different view on life and what you should do to be happy. Love isn’t all you need kind of felt like the motto by the end as well. Fame and fortune? Those don’t matter either, actually. All that mattered to me was the writing, plot, characters and pacing, as well as the meaning discovered in the end. At least, those things satisfied me. *giggles*
All in all, Being Sloane Jacobs turned out to be one of those books that you’ll finish and enjoy in one sitting. It’s fast-paced, and unique, compared to the large selection of contemporaries that are found in YA lit today. Did you enjoy The Parent Trap films? Do you enjoy books about the theme of friendship and first love? What about starting over again once something bad occurred to you in life? This has that all.
do you prefer a fast or slow pace when contemporaries are written? have you read anything by lauren morrill before? Do you like similar cover schemes from one particular author and all of their books?
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